With Amazon in its sights, Barnes & Noble announces new Nook tablets

The $199 Nook HD and $269 Nook HD+ include no ads, begin shipping on November 1.

Barnes & Noble has updated its Nook tablet lineup ahead of the holiday season, and like Amazon its traditional 7" product is being joined by a larger 9" version. These tablets, dubbed the Nook HD and Nook HD+, are currently available for pre-order at starting prices of $199 and $269. The devices are scheduled to begin shipping in the US on November 1.

Nook HD

The Nook HD is a 7" tablet with a 1440x900 resolution—this 243 pixels-per-inch display puts it within reach of the Retina iPad's 264 PPI, and slightly ahead of the 216 PPI in the 1280x800 Nexus 7 and the 7" Kindle Fire HD. The tablet is comparable in size to other 7" tablets, but is slightly thinner and lighter than both the Nexus 7 and Amazon's offering.

On the inside of the tablet is a 1.3GHz dual-core OMAP 4470 from Texas Instruments, a slight bump up from the 1.0GHz OMAP 4 in last year's Nook Tablet. Most of the tablets in both Amazon's and Barnes & Noble's lineups are using some version on the Cortex A9-based OMAP 4, which won't set any speed records when compared to quad-core processors like the one in the Nexus 7 or quicker dual-core processors like the one in the iPhone 5.

The smaller tablet will be available in both Snow (white) and Slate (dark grey), and 8GB and 16GB capacities will set you back $199 and $229 respectively.

Nook HD+

While the Nook HD is more of a replacement for the current Nook Tablet, the Nook HD+ is a new product category for Barnes & Noble—it's a 9" tablet with a 256 PPI 1920x1280 display. If the Barnes & Noble product page is accurate, this resolution is a bit of an odd choice, since it gives the tablet a non-standard aspect ratio different from the 16:10 used in the Nook HD (or the 16:9 used by the 8.9" Kindle Fire HD)—a true 16:10 display would actually be 1920x1200. We won't know whether this resolution has an effect on video or apps until we have the device in-hand.

Powering the HD+ is a 1.5GHz OMAP 4470, a slightly faster version of the chip used by the Nook HD. The larger tablet is available in the dark grey Slate color only, and comes in both 16GB and 32GB versions for $269 and $299. This slightly undercuts the $299 entry price of Amazon's 16GB 8.9" Kindle Fire HD.

Other features

The Nook HD and the HD+ also share a number of other features: both include a microSD card slot that allows users to add up to 32GB of extra storage; a micro USB port for charging and connecting the tablet to a computer; 1GB of RAM; 802.11n Wi-Fi; "up to" ten hours of battery life while reading and nine hours while watching video; and a heavily skinned operating system based on Android 4.0. An optional HDMI dongle will be available for both models to allow output to a television.

Compared to Amazon's Kindle Fires, the new Nooks have the benefit of being lighter and offering higher-resolution screens for the same or lower prices. However, Amazon's 8.9" Fire HD does offer 4G LTE connectivity in the $499 version, an option that neither the Nook HD nor the Nook HD+ offer at any price point. And compared with the Nexus 7, that device's stock Android operating system and quad-core SoC make it a better choice than the new Nook for a general-use tablet.

Last year's Nook Tablet and the even older Nook Color are currently still available for their previous starting prices of $179 and $149, and there's no indication as to whether those models will be discontinued or offered at lower prices once the new models begin shipping. When the Nook Tablet was introduced last year, the Nook Color received a price cut and a software update that brought over some of the newer product's improvements. It seems likely that something similar will happen to the Nook Tablet this year to keep the older device competitive with Amazon's $159 non-HD Kindle Fire.

I hope the Nook really sucks, because I've a Nexus 7 on the way, and I need to be validated in my purchase.

Well, you'll have Jelly Bean, get updates to Android fast, have a quad core processor and the open Google Play Market...

Which'll happen relatively soon for the Nook too courtesy of the helpful folks at xda-devs/cyanogenmod I know it'll sound silly,but I have to ask.. Do you guys think the HDMI dongle might work with the Nexus 7,because the lack of an HDMI is really harshing my mellow

I hope the Nook really sucks, because I've a Nexus 7 on the way, and I need to be validated in my purchase.

Well, you'll have Jelly Bean, get updates to Android fast, have a quad core processor and the open Google Play Market...

This is why I'm not sure I'd want the Nook or Fire. Is cost the only draw?

For me the resolution of the Nook looks very attractive. I don't really care about the slower CPU/GPU as I assume it's fast enough for browsing, movies, maps and books. I'm not looking for a gaming console.

The price doesn't really matter, as I see myself using it for ages. I would have considered an 7" iPad, even if it was more expensive, under the assumption that it would have a retina style display.

I am "stuck" with the Nexus 7 though, it just haven't arrived at my doorstep yet.

Oh well, hopefully Casey Johnston will do a Nook review soon, so I can either regret my Nexus 7 purchase, or be validated in it.

@bk109 - Yeah, probably but I do support for a living and I don't like hacking my tablets. As for HDMI out on Nexus 7, nope, doesn't support it.

Well,that is problematic but there's bound to be an aftermarket dock or something eventually. As for the other thing -I'm in IT too and to be honest - I can't wait to start playing with the ROMs for my devices

Yeah, the higher resolution screens are a big draw for me also. The Nexus 7 screen, unfortunately, ain't great. (Or is calibrated incorrectly depending on who you ask.)

I prefer Android, but my Retina iPad screen is incomparable. Only thing that comes close is the Transformer Infinity, but I'd prefer a 8.9" tablet. It's a great size for portability, reading, GPS, etc.

@bk109 - I've been in IT for about 15+ years. Going home to something that is giving me technical issues makes me want to break stuff.

You'd have to hold an 8.9" screen about 14" from your eyeballs to be able to see the full difference between 720p and 1080p. I can't even think of a viewing position that would make sense closer then 24" from your eyes, and 720p is about the max you can resolve on an 8.9" screen at that distance.

I think Barnes & Noble is knocking it out of the park with these tablets, especially considering they're a bookstore company. I've been going back and forth lately about whether I prefer the 7" or 10" tablet size, and the 9" might be a perfect compromise. And I've wanting an Android tablet with the pixel density of the iPad 3 and B&N have delivered on that front as well which is impressive. The price is spot-on. If the device isn't too locked down and they're able to get CM10 on this thing I'd seriously consider it, but the extra performance of the Nexus 7 is also welcome, and I'd really like to see if Google releases a Nexus 9 or Nexus 10.

But seriously, I love my nook, but I use it with calibre, and if I got one of their tablets, it's only because they've been the most hackable of the 'tied down' tablets.

I wish they would just build more function into their tablets and ereaders. Trying to keep the internet/Android away is just depressing sales. If I still spend all day reading blogs online, why would I upgrade my ereader? If I can't get the best apps, why would I buy your tablet?

I do find it ironic that Android tablets are largely following android phones into the abyss of gray/black slabs with little styling.

I know of course case sales are huge, but then how long until Surface comes in 8 rainbow colors?

It was checking out their preorder site and they have two knocks on Amazon out of six bullet points.

* No annoying ads* Comes with free power adapter (Okay, c'mon Amazon, that is stupid. They make a big deal of the fact that you can use the device without a computer, but require that you either purchase a USB wall adapter or slowly charge from a computer. It's only a few bucks to get one, but that's the point; put one in the damn box.)

Should be an interesting competition... If B&N meets their ship date, they're beating Amazon by about a month.

I wish they would produce an A4/US Letter sized e-paper reader. I have the Nook Simple Touch and really like it, but so many PDFs reflow poorly and are unreadable at such a small size. It's sad to see them solely chasing the tablet bandwagon.

If they had the equivalent of Free Time I would be all over the 7" model since the addition of a MicroSD slot is a big deal for me compared to the KindleHD and Nexus 7. Why would I pay $50 for an extra 8GB when I can get a 32GB microSD card for $18 delivered.

You'd have to hold an 8.9" screen about 14" from your eyeballs to be able to see the full difference between 720p and 1080p. I can't even think of a viewing position that would make sense closer then 24" from your eyes, and 720p is about the max you can resolve on an 8.9" screen at that distance.

I can't believe people are arguing against higher DPI. Do you like seeing individual pixels? I tried the old iPad in store which has about 9" 720p like pixel density and pixels were readily visible the whole time I was using it.

I wish they would produce an A4/US Letter sized e-paper reader. I have the Nook Simple Touch and really like it, but so many PDFs reflow poorly and are unreadable at such a small size. It's sad to see them solely chasing the tablet bandwagon.

The only one I've seen usable in person was the plain kindle, where you could rotate the pdf, then view half of it at a time. And it was smaller. I'm sure the kindle DX did better, but at those prices, you could just print everything, anyway.

Btw, I think kindle will lose quite a bit by not being in actual stores. Mobile devices need to be handled to be appreciated. Though I bought a nook, I was far more impressed with the kindle after handling them. And my child plans on the nooks every trip to the book store, the appeal of these for kid gaming shouldn't be underestimated, my friend's fire is basically a mobile kiddie console.

As a former Nook Color owner, I think these look pretty sweet. If you can sideload APKs without much work, they would probably make for pretty nice little tablets -- I especially like the high res screens, assuming the quality is any good. But, the Nexus 7 is probably still the better choice for 95% of people...

Keeping the 7" model down to 5" width is a big plus in my book. That's the kind of size you can fit into cargo pants leg pockets without straining. (very handy with my Nexus 7) The KindleFire HD's extra width puts it past that threshold for me.

Beyond that... these are consumer devices so different designs things work for different people. It's good to see better hardware available from BN if my family's NookColor dies.

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.